Slow Foods Exotic Fruit Brunch this Sunday

This Sunday, September 21, 2008: If you've never eaten a Mamey (tastes like a sweet potato crossed with a papaya) or a Jackfruit (juicyfruit candy crossed with bananas) you'll have a chance this Sunday to give it a whirl, courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Garden, Whole Foods, and the Cordon Bleu Miami. The Slow Foods Exotic Fruit Brunch may sound a bit pricey at $60 per person or $110 per couple, but consider that your hard-earned moolah will go to support Williams Grove and Le Cordon Bleu's Miami Scholarship Fund -- you may be investing in a future of mo' better chefs in South Florida. And check out the brunch menu: canistel soup, ceviche with carambola and mango salsa, and organic wine from Bonterra. A tour of the gardens starts at 10 a.m. with brunch served from 11 to 1, courtesy of Cordon Blue chefs Rachel O'Kaine, Marcelo Marino and Susan Sadaka. You'll be dining with Fairchild's Tropical Fruit Curators, Dr. Richard Campbell and Noris Ledesma.

And for a fascinating pre-brunch read about Fairchild and all things barely edible, pick up a copy of The Fruit Hunters by Adam Leith Gollner. You'll never look at a mango quite the same way again.